Return to net migration gains in 2022

There was a provisional net migration gain of 15,800 in 2022, Stats NZ said today.

The net migration gain in 2022 was a turnaround from a net migration loss of 15,000 in 2021, but below pre-COVID net migration gains, which averaged 57,600 a year in 2014-2019.

“2022 was a year of two halves, with monthly net migration losses in the first half of the year more than offset by monthly net migration gains in the second half of the year,” population indicators manager Tehseen Islam said.

“The net migration gain in the second half of 2022 was driven by non-New Zealand citizens, following the progressive relaxation of COVID-19-related border restrictions and coinciding with changes to immigration settings.”

The provisional net migration gain of 15,800 in 2022 was made up of a net gain of 32,400 non-New Zealand citizens and a net loss of 16,600 New Zealand citizens.

This is consistent with migration patterns before the COVID-19 pandemic, where New Zealand usually had an annual net migration gain of non-New Zealand citizens and an annual net migration loss of New Zealand citizens.

The historical pattern was reversed due to COVID-19-related travel and border restrictions, especially in 2020 and 2021, with net migration gains of New Zealand citizens and net migration losses of non-New Zealand citizens.

Text alternative for diagram International migration estimates (provisional), year ended December 2022

Non-New Zealand citizens drive net migration gain

New Zealand’s annual net migration gain in 2022 was driven by net migration of 32,400 non-New Zealand citizens, including a net gain of 34,700 in the last nine months of 2022.

This compares with a net migration loss of 32,200 non-New Zealand citizens in the 24 months from April 2020 to March 2022, when COVID-19-related border and travel restrictions were in place.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, non-New Zealand citizens were the main driver of migration, with net migration gains of non-New Zealand citizens averaging roughly 60,000 per year from 2014 to 2019.

In the December 2022 year, citizens of the Philippines, India, South Africa, and China were the main drivers of the overall net migration gain of non-New Zealand citizens.

Net migration loss of New Zealand citizens

The annual net migration loss of 16,600 New Zealand citizens in 2022 compares with a net migration gain of 1,000 in 2021. 

The net migration loss of New Zealand citizens in 2022 is:

• larger than the losses in 2014-2018, which averaged 5,400 a year; but
• smaller than the losses in 2001-2013, which averaged 26,700 a year.

There were 14 months of mainly net migration losses of New Zealand citizens to December 2022, amounting to 18,200. This follows 27 months of mainly net migration gains of New Zealand citizens, amounting to 32,100.

Migrants aged 18-30 years accounted for over half (9,400) of the provisional net migration loss of 16,600 New Zealand citizens in 2022. This concentration of outflow in the young adult ages is not unusual. The same age group had a net loss of 1,700 in 2019, when that year had an overall net migration gain of 2,900 New Zealand citizens.

Migration affects population growth in New Zealand – see National population estimates: At 31 December 2022, to be published on 20 February 2023.

Text alternative for diagram International migration estimates (provisional), year ended December 2022

Diagram shows outcomes-based (provisional) estimates of migration, by citizenship (New Zealand or non-New Zealand) for the year ended December 2022. Overall, net migration is 15,800, made up of a net loss of 16,600 NZ citizens (based on 30,500 migrant arrivals, a 12 percent increase on the year ended December 2021, and 47,100 migrant departures, a 79 percent increase) and a net gain of 32,400 non-NZ citizens (based on 84,400 migrant arrivals, a 201 percent increase on the year ended December 2021, and 52,100 migrant departures, an 18 percent increase). Estimates are provisional as of 16 February 2023. Percentage changes are indicative of the December 2022 year compared with the December 2021 year.